Katrina Kaif is very accident prone. A month ago, Ranbir Kapoor missed his cue and slapped her so hard on the sets of “Ajab Prem Ki Gazab Kahani” that her face got swollen badly and shooting had to be cancelled. Last week, she got her leg rather badly injured while shooting for “De Dhana Dhan”.
According to cast members at Film City here, Katrina was doing an underwater sequence with Akshay Kumar when her foot got tangled under water.
“The more she tried to extricate herself the more her leg got tangled. She tried to scream for help, but because of the noise on the sets including the stunt co-ordinators who were shouting instructions to the entire cast, no one heard Katrina’s screams of pain,” a source told IANS.
Finally, Akshay bailed her out.
“Akshay saw that Katrina was in trouble. He quickly swam to her and got her out of the tangle,” said the source.
Katrina’s leg was badly hurt. “It could’ve been worse,” said the source, “but tetanus shots and sedatives have eased her pain.”
When contacted, Katrina tried to downplay the incident saying: “It was nothing. I hurt my leg. There was a cut that hasn’t healed as yet. So I’m in pain.”

Aamir Khan’s perfectionist attitude often sends jitters down his co-stars’ spines. But southern beauty Asin, who is set to make her Bollywood debut with Aamir in “Ghajini”, says she had no issues matching up to the superstar as she too always settles for nothing but the best.
“People often call Aamir a perfectionist and a tough taskmaster, but I didn’t have any problem matching up to him because I’m also quite a workaholic. We gelled quite well as far as the demand of perfection was concerned. Even I like things to be the best,” Asin told IANS over telephone from Mumbai.
Just like any other girl her age, 23-year-old Asin has been a huge Aamir fan.
“I have always admired Aamir and have enjoyed his movies ‘Lagaan’ and ‘Dil Chahta Hai’ and also loved ‘Taare Zameen Par’. I have danced a lot on ‘Dil Chahta Hai’ songs with my friends,” she said.
After working with the superstar, she says he is unlike what the media and industry project him to be.
“Shooting with Aamir was great fun. He isn’t as serious as he is projected to be. He is highly dedicated to his work but is very cool and easy to work with. He’s a simple person, very genuine and frank about his opinions despite having such a good stature in Bollywood,” said Asin.
The actress, who was brought up in Kerala and debuted in Sathyan Anthikad’s Malayalam film “Narendra Makan Jayakanthan Vaka” in 2001, also starred in the Tamil version of “Ghajini” released in 2005. It was in this film that she received her second South Filmfare Award for best actress.
Asin has been kept away from the promotions of the Hindi remake thanks to Aamir’s knack for keeping his cast away from the media prior to the release. But she is nonchalant.
“I have not felt overshadowed by Aamir’s publicity at all. Actually, I’m not used to all this really because we don’t have it in the south film industry. The marketing team for ‘Ghajini’ has its strategy to promote the film in the right manner. If Aamir is promoting the film in the north, I am doing it in the south,” she said.
Besides, Asin believes publicity is something that would only bring people to the theatres. Liking or not liking the film is in the viewers’ hands, she said.
According to her, though audiences down south have already seen and appreciated the original “Ghajini”, they would surely revisit theatres for Aamir’s charm.
“Aamir has got a huge fan following and he is the highlight of the film. In fact, since a lot of people down south have seen the Tamil version of the film, they will now probably come to theatres just to watch Aamir.
“I have no issues about that as ‘Ghajini’ is the story of Sanjay Singhania, played by Aamir. So the fact that his presence is being highlighted is completely justified,” said Asin.
As of now, the actress is “excited but anxious” of how her “new audience” will react to her performance when “Ghajini” hits theatres worldwide.
Her next Bollywood release after “Ghajini” would be Vipul Shah’s “London Dreams” in which she stars alongside Salman Khan and Ajay Devgan. She is also a part of Walt Disney’s multi-lingual project “19 Steps” and would be sharing screen space with south Indian superstar Kamal Haasan and Japanese actor Tadanobu Asano.

New Delhi: The sassy Mallika Sherawat can’t stop raving about American filmmaker Oliver Stone with whom she shared the stage at the Global Brand Forum 2008 held in Malaysia.
“It was a huge surprise for me to be invited to the global forum along with Oliver Stone. And to share the same stage with someone who’s made great films like ‘JFK’ and ‘Platoon’ – all I can say is wow,” said Mallika in a press statement.
The actress, who was invited last week to speak about the challenges and opportunities facing the movie business as well as about the impact of Indian films in brands and business, feels she shares something in common with Stone.
“I guess for better or for worse both of us have our own brands. And as Oliver says – people either love or hate his films. I feel it’s the same for me.
“On one hand young people have embraced me, on the other hand there are lots of people in the country, film industry and in advertising, who think I’m too controversial and radical for their liking”, she added.
Mallika, who has been seen in films like “Khwahish”, “Murder” and “Pyaar Ke Side Effects” apart from a small role in a Jackie Chan’s movie “The Myth”, recently won the 2008 Renaissance Artist Award at the 16th Annual Diversity Awards held in California.
The actress is currently working in Hollywood-Bollywood project titled “Hisss”. She plays a snake woman in the fictional-fantasy which is being directed by well-known Hollywood director Jennifer Lynch.

Will it be Cambridge, film stardom, fashion or chilling with the £10m already in the bank? We talk to Emma Watson about the life ahead
Camilla Long
Is Emma Watson a bit of a madam? Given 10 years of international superstardom, £10m pocket money, hot and cold running Chanel, the undying hearts of a million billion children, and all by the age of 18, I imagine anyone would be. Certainly, she’s a bit aloof, a bit otherworldly, a bit most-popular-girl-in-school, when she arrives at the studio, two PRs tottering after. “We’ve met before,” I say, as she holds out her tiny princess’s hand. We only met for two seconds, of course, last year at a charity ball. She goes bright red and brushes an imaginary bit of hair from her face, clearly — and winningly — flustered.
“OhgoshhaveweI’msosorryIjust . . . I don’t remember,” she says. Sigh. Silly me! She must meet hundreds of fans every day.
Watson is tiny and pretty and delightfully brought up. There is nothing remotely suggestive or arch or sexy about her. A doll that has just been taken out of its wrapping, she is a refreshing antithesis to the ripped tights and bleached seaweed hair of the Peaches and Pixies. She wouldn’t dream of nicking clothes or getting publicly drunk or, indeed, doing anything vulgar at all. She remains like, omigod, super-embarrassed about once being linked to the Razorlight front man Johnny Borrell — “Ridiculous: I haven’t spoken to him since” — and charmingly at a loss when I ask her what is the starriest thing she has ever done.
“Um . . . I asked for a bed in my dressing room recently,” she says in her crisp, fluttery voice. Well, what about buying the ski chalet for her 18th? “That’s a family thing,” she says, smiling. “We’re all going up there for Christmas. I love skiing.” And asking all the boys at Stowe to stand up for her when she came into the room? Blank horror and incomprehension. “No. I would never. Can you ever imagine me saying that? More than anything, I just want to be treated like everyone else.”
Which is not difficult, in a way. Small and slim in a pair of jeans and a neat Cacharel V-neck, you probably couldn’t pick Watson out in a crowd. She’s just another schoolgirl, and that’s exactly the point of her. As Hermione Granger, she embodies The Ultimate Girlie Swot — a clean, shrewd, principled young lady, largely unaware of her effect on others. She’s much prettier than your average schoolgirl, of course: in profile, a veritable Sargent, all pinks and whites and Burberry eyebrows. But, she says, she’s not into that vanity rubbish. “Spending a whole day getting ready is ridiculous,” she says. She normally does her hair and make-up herself, having learnt from growing up around make-up ladies — “My surrogate mums. I hate wearing an outfit that looks too put-together and perfect. I choose the things I wear myself because I’m such an OCD control freak”.
Little by little, however, Hermione Granger is undergoing a transition. Next summer, as her sixth Harry Potter is released, she will film the seventh and eighth all in one go, perhaps because, with every passing month, Harry, Ron and Hermione are getting older and looking less like Harry, Ron and Hermione.
“I’m at a strange age,” says Watson, wrinkling her brow and asking for an orange juice, which doesn’t arrive. (She is simply too lovely to ask twice.) “I’m not a woman yet, but I’m not a girl any more. [Film companies] say, ‘Oh, in a couple of years you’ll be perfect for this.’ I’ll be like, yeah, but I want to be studying English then, so it’s going to be quite tough to choose between the two.”
Apart from Harry Potter, she has done the minor girlie fantasy Ballet Shoes and is now promoting her role as Princess Pea in the upcoming mouse cartoon The Tale of Despereaux. But what will she do when she’s too old for ribbons and mittens and magical kittens? “I’m going to have a battle on my hands, because after Harry Potter has finished, I don’t know,” she says. “I definitely want to go to university.”
And with three As this summer from her boarding school, Headington School, Oxford — “I worked incredibly hard” — the world is Watson’s oyster. She says she’s keen on the Ivy League, and she has been linked to Cambridge. I hope she goes: there’s a tenacity and honesty about her that seems wasted on the silly world of blockbusters. Witness her brilliant campaign as an eight-year-old to get the part of Hermione. “I rehearsed and rehearsed and rehearsed,” she recalls. “When I got the part, people were like, ‘Why you?’ And I just remember seeing a L’Oréal advert, and coming out with an American accent, ‘Because I’m worth it.’ That was my answer then. My answer now is . . . I don’t know, I just really got her.”
So in 20 years’ time, I can quite easily see her being a brilliant lawyer or civil servant — in a good way, of course — and perhaps she sees it too. “I have enough to hold me together without fame,” she says. “I have a really supportive family and a full life away from Harry Potter. It’s unlikely that I’ll be part of anything this big ever again, so I need to deal with that. I’m not going to take a job just because, shit, I’m not doing anything else.” She still loves acting, naturally — she would even, steady chaps, go nude. “Yes,” she says. “For Bernardo Bertolucci. It . . . depends. I’m not getting my kit off any time soon, but it is part of my job.”
Watson divides her time between her father’s house in Hampstead — her parents are divorced — and her mother’s in Oxfordshire. Rather sweetly, she is archiving all her dresses for her young twin stepsisters. “I’m hugely sentimental,” she says. “I collect and collect and collect. I have boxes full of postcards, letters and photographs.” Off-duty, she spends her time doing ordinary school-leaver stuff, such as hanging around Oxford nightclubs with her friends. “The truth is, I’m not very cool,” she shrugs. She’s not really into stepping out of line — she has never been tempted to date Daniel or Rupert, for example. “The public are desperate for it,” she rolls her eyes. “It would literally be like [a royal marriage]. Luckily, luckily . . . It would be such a nightmare.” She believes in love at first sight, but won’t be drawn on the boy she’s dating at the moment. I suspect he is a “civilian” from among her Oxford friends — she has, in the past, dated someone from a local boys’ school. Is she in love? “I don’t know,” she says, before going a bright shade of cerise.
For all her protests that she really isn’t cool, and for all the provincial nights out and boxes of keepsakes, I can’t help noticing she does love a fashion bash — the Chanel couture, the National Gallery, always deliciously attired in cream — and I definitely know someone who has styled her. So what’s really going on? “The parties are fun if you’re with friends,” she says, although meeting her public is often awkward. “I think it’s hard for people to know how to act when they meet me. Some people try incredibly hard to avoid anything to do with Harry Potter, fame or acting or whatever, and I really do appreciate it, but it can be quite awkward too. It’s hard meeting new people, for them to know quite what to do.”
So . . . is she a bit of a madam? And if not, why not? Watson giggles. “It’s really hard to say what’s jealousy and what’s people not liking me. People might just generally think I’m a bitch,” she says. Well, I don’t. I think she’s simply divine.
The Tale of Despereaux is released on December 19

Courtesy: timesonline.co.uk

Film star Angelina Jolie commands the biggest salary for Hollywood actresses, according to an annual list published by the Hollywood Reporter.
Jolie can expect to make $15m (£10.2m) a film, ahead of Julia Roberts and 2007 list winner Reece Witherspoon.
Oscar winners Nicole Kidman and Halle Berry are no longer able to make $10m (£6.8m), says the industry publication.
But male stars are outstripping their female counterparts, with Will Smith able to make $25m (£17m) for a movie.
Waning salaries
Jolie’s partner Brad Pitt is able to make up to $20m (£13.6m) for each star vehicle.
Jolie, 33, currently starring in Clint Eastwood’s Changeling, made $15m for Wanted and could increase her pay-out to $20m for a sequel, said the Hollywood Reporter.
The actress finished in second spot in last year’s ratings.
Other actresses in the top flight are Cameron Diaz, Katherine Heigl, Kate Hudson, Anne Hathaway and former Friends star Jennifer Aniston, who made $8 (£5.44m) for comedy Marley and Me, due to open on Christmas Day in the US.
The publication added that salaries of key actresses are on the wane and are still lagging Hollywood’s leading men.
It also published its annual list of the most powerful women in US entertainment, in which talk show host Oprah Winfrey came out on top.
The TV star and media mogul was credited for her “immense cultural influence”.

Britney Spears (Reuters photo)

After making a remarkable comeback, pop star Britney Spears says she has planned many things for 2009.
In the January issue of Glamour magazine, the ‘ Toxic’ singer has revealed what positive changes she’s going to make in her life.
“I would like to stop worrying so much because I worry all the time,” Insider quoted her, as telling the magazine.
“And to learn how to be happier, just in general. I have to learn to take things not so seriously,” she added.
Britney also revealed what role her new album played in turning things around.
“Recording this album has helped take my mind off certain things. For me, my music is therapy,” she said.

King Khan on Mumbai blasts
Bollywood superstar Shah Rukh Khan has finally opened up about the Mumbai terror attacks. In an exclusive interview to BBC Radio, the Baadshah broke his silence over the havoc created by the fanatics.
A part of the interview was aired during the transmission of a popular London based Bollywood show recently.
SRK expressed his anguish, but at the same time said, “I’ve tried to keep away from commenting on this as there are no words to express a situation like this because our feelings are mixed with anger, disbelief and sadness.”
The actor is dismayed as he can’t gulp the fact that anyone can do such grave things in the name of religion. “Being a Muslim myself, I believe youngsters need to understand Islam and respect the religion in the right way. I think no agenda should be attached to any kind of religion”, he added.
SRK further said, “It’s such a huge waste and my appeal to all in these times and in recent years is – ‘Please, can we run what we want in terms of politics, government, jobs and teaching our children with the prime motive of taking communalism out of it’.”

african-women1

Infertility can be hard for any woman and the idea of not being able to have a child of your own can be totally devastating but for women in some parts of

Africa it’s even worse than any of us could imagine.

The pressure to bear children and continue the family line is huge in countries such as Sudan and Malawi and any woman not able to carry out this duty is considered an outcast or even a witch by the community around her.

Witchhunts still occur in certain places in Africa and anyone suspected of witchcraft- even if those suspicions are just based on malicious gossip- can be thrown out of a village, locked away in a special ‘witch camp’ or even tortured.

Now officials are planning to solve the infertility taboo in these countries by providing cheap IVF treatment for those women affected. But is that really the best way to solve the problem? Or is it simply playing up to the notion that an infertile woman in surplus to the requirements of society?

“Infertility is taboo in Africa,” said Willem Ombelet, head of a task force at the European Society of Human Reproduction and Embryology looking into infertility in developing countries. “Nobody has paid attention to this issue, but it is a huge problem and we need to do something.”

At a media briefing at the society’s annual conference in Barcelona, Ombelet said that he and colleagues were deciding in which countries to test the new procedure whcih will see women being offered a cheap version of IVF which costs less than £100 -standard IVF treatments in the West cost up to £5,000.

The treatment can be offered at such a low price due to changes in the methods used. For example where an expensive incubator is used to create an embryo in the western world, Ombelet said that a simple water bath could be used in Africa.

Medicines and equipment used would also be a cheaper version of what is most commonly used around the world- but is this ethical? Are we saying that although we wouldn’t use these methods on our own women, they are adequate enough for African women?

The difference in the cheaper IVF procedures also means that they are less effective.The success rate with western methods is around 20% while Ombelet estimates it would probably be about 15% using this new scheme.

Surely this is going to make matters worse- a woman who is outcast for being infertile could perhaps be rejected further if she still can’t conceive even after getting help?

It’s difficult to know what is the right thing to do in this situation….On the surface these women will be grateful of any help they can get to be able to bear children and be accepted by their communities but if we think long term then shouldn’t we be educating both the men and women in these countries? Surely we should be showing them that a woman is more than just a baby-making machine and that they have plenty more to offer to society? But then again who are we to meddle in the belief systems of another culture?

Let us know what you think below…………

geri-halliwell-awi6

The former Spice Girl – who had a cameo role in the original US TV series – was overcome when she watched the film because it triggered all of her emotions.

She said: “I’ve seen ‘Sex and the City’ twice already. It pushed all the buttons – it made me laugh, made me cry. To be honest, I felt quite traumatised by it all. I think I’m quite sensitive when it comes to engaging with other people’s energies and emotions. And yet it’s things like characters in books and films that help me work out my own stuff in life.”

Geri, 35, also said the movie reminded her of her recent reconciliation with the Spice Girls.

The star – who quit the girl group in May 1998 to pursue a solo career – added: “In a way, seeing the four women in ‘Sex and the City’ and how the story of their lives had moved on reminded me of the Spice Girls and how we’ve moved on.

“The Spice Girls reunion tour was a very healing experience for me. It put to bed every bit of doubt, guilt, insecurity I had about leaving the girls when I did. I felt I’d made amends with them.”

Contrary to media reports Salman Khan and his girlfriend Katrina Kaif are still a couple. The two have definately not broken up.

Both had been refusing to comment on their relationship status post the infamous birthday bash of Katrina wherein Salman had a huge fight with Shah Rukh Khan. Reportedly, this fight and Salman’s obnoxious behaviour had angered Katrina and she had walked out of their relationship.

But according to sources, the couple was seen enjoying a cozy dinner at a Mumbai star hotel last Wednesday. Salman had come in alone followed by Katrina.

They both had hugged each other first and then sat having dinner for over an hour there. Also, they left together in the same car with Katrina’s car following Salman’s.

Also, the shooting of Yuvraj is going in full swing in Filmcity where the couple is seen having a blast shooting together.

The unit members claim, they have never seen them fight once after the reports of their break up have started coming out. Infact they are having more fun while shooting nowadays.

Katrina Kaif also refuted reports that she had decided to end her professional relationship with beau Salman Khan and said that a good script was the only pre-condition for her to sign a film.

“I have never said that I will not work with Salman Khan after Yuvraj, ” she said. “I always go by the script. I do not know how such speculations float around. If our dates work out, we will feature in Sohail Khan’s next film.”

On reports that she was no longer part of Shah Rukh Khan’s Temptations world tour after the much-hyped SRK- Salman fracas at her birthday party, Katrina said that she enjoyed dancing, and being on stage. “If dates permit, I will be a part of the show, ” she said.

Katrina, who recently replaced Aishwarya Rai Bachchan as the ambassador of Nakshtra jewellary brand, revealed that she is leaving for the US to shoot for Kabir Khan’s film, to be produced by Yash Raj Films, this week. The actress will be paired opposite John Abraham in this yet-untitled film.

“This will be my longest outdoor schedule ever, ” she said.

But before that, Katrina is looking forward to the release of her film, Singh is Kinng this week.

“It is an entertaining film and we have worked very hard on it, ” she said, adding, “Akshay has a good sense of script, commercial cinema and audience tastes. He is unbiased towards his co-stars.

Namastey London was a woman centric film but Akshay was its strength as well. Besides, we have fun matching each other’s energy in dancing, ” she said.